Daughter of Hyrule: The Song of Saria
by Miss Leanne
Summary: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Saria tells how her life and destiny are completely wrapped up in a boy whose name is Link. She also tells of how she became the Sage of the Forest, and her death. I do not own characters! Romance, LinkxSaria, slight gore
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello all! I enjoy writing Phantom of the Opera fan fiction, but for now I'm taking a break from that deal. I've wanted to write a series called "Daughter of Hyrule", and I hope to eventually have written about all the female characters who figure prominently in Link's life in Ocarina of Time. Some will be harder than others just because not enough background has been given on them, but the first in the series is Saria, Link's childhood friend. I appreciate honest critiquing as well as praise, but flames are not appreciated at all. If you have some pointers for me, please state them in a grown-up fashion. **

**Please enjoy the story...**

It is frightening to look Death in the face, is it not?

The Spirit of Ganon flies into my face and I send magic from my fingertips into His own face. If you can call His a face. All I can see is a black abyss, red lights for eyes…and my imminent death.

This Spirit is a blight on my beautiful woodland Temple, and He must be vanquished even if I lay down my life for it to take place. We all wait, the whole of Hyrule waits, for the Hero of All Time to awaken and purge our beautiful world of evil, but until then, sacrifices must be made. And Goddesses help me, I will be the first sacrifice if need be. I will do all I possibly can do!

The Spirit flings his long scepter with simple flicks of the wrist and throws magic my way once more. Once again, I summon my waning magic to my forearm and form a opalescent shield to buffet the ball of black magic back to him. He blocks the projectile and sends it back to me. This repeats until someone gets hurt. He is more experienced than I in the art of battle, and I'm the one who often absorbs the magic. Goddesses! How it shakes me to the core of my core and pains me more each time it hits me.

The evil Spirit sees that I've fallen down onto my hands and knees and takes advantage of my vulnerability. He once again slides His black magic my way and I desperately shield my face with an open hand, but I take in the shock and blink back tears of frustration, fury, and fear as I find myself flat on my face. I'm frustrated that I can't get any hits in; I furious that he continues to be a blemish on my world; and I'm fearful of my imminent death. The Kokiri never die except in extreme situations.

Such as this one.

No Kokiri child has ever died before. I'm aware I may be the first.

No. I _know_ I will be the first. And if it does anything to help fight the war against the Incarnation of Evil, then I should not be afraid of death any longer.

I pull myself up from my facedown position and ready myself for a final attack, no matter how weak it might be. The Spirit laughs a laugh so evil that it hurts me more than any of his physical attacks. He sees the blood on my face and clothes, He sees that there is a gaping whole in the side of my head where he jabbed the end of his scepter. He sees that I'm weakening, that my magic powers are almost out. But what He doesn't see is that I have no fear in my eyes.

He does not see that the Hero of All Time came awake at the same time that I fell onto my face. I know that he is awake because I feel it in the very marrow of my bones. And the Spirit does not see that even if I do not defeat Him, then the Hero of All Time will.

"You…Will…. I scream in overwhelming joy to the Evil that swirls around my limp body. _The Hero of All Time has awakened, and nothing shall be the same ever again!!_ All forms of the Incarnation of Evil will be destroyed by this great Hero, and evil will no longer be in existence for years to come.

And I rejoice that I'm the first to die in the name of freedom.

The Spirit notes that I'm no longer playing the martyr for the sake of my friends in the Kokiri Forest. Now he sees that I don't care if I die. Now he sees in my eyes that He will be defeated. If not by me, then by the Hero of All Time himself.

The Spirit's demeanor changes to one of freakish anger, and He hurls a ball of black magic toward me, but it's much larger than the other ones He's been throwing.

It hits me. And O, Goddesses above, it hurts.

The Spirit of Ganon has killed me. His bloody work done, he disappears into a wall.

But I am released from my physical body. I am released from the pain of this world, released from the cage that the Incarnation of Evil forced me into.

My soul is taken into the Great Soul of the Forest Temple, and there it will stay until the Hero of All Time comes and releases me into the white ocean that is for those who died fighting evil.

My part in this world is over.

Almost.

_Here He comes._

_The Hero of All Time. _


	2. Chapter 2

_As I look around the Temple which had been so involved in my life on the earth, a flood of memories come back to me. Memories of playing in the Kokiri Forest, petty gossip with my girlfriends, my love for the Great Deku Tree, the sight of a newborn fairy, of breaking up fights between Mido and Link. _

_Ah. Link…I miss you, Link…_

I played in the sand underneath the boughs of the Great Deku Tree, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation that the Great Tree was having with an outsider woman that had somehow come in with a baby. It was beyond me how the outsider woman had come into our Forest in the first place, but she looked awfully pretty. But there was a great amount of blood on her torso. I had never seen blood or the gashes they came from in my entire life. They deeply disturbed me. For some odd reason, I hoped that they were coming from the woman and not from the squirming baby in her delicate arms.

I could tell from a distance that the baby was a darling child. He had duck-fuzz hair, and his curled hands shook when he cried. I noted that for a young baby, he was very aware of what was happening around him. I believe that he was crying for his mother. Even as an innocent child that I was then, I saw that her injuries were fatal and that she did not have long to live.

As I finished this last thought, the woman collapsed onto her side, still holding the baby tightly.

"Saria." The Great Deku Tree called me. "Take the child and care for him as long as he shall need it."

I jumped up to obey, and ran over to the dead woman. But I hesitated as I approached. I had never seen an outsider before, let alone a dead one, and I had certainly never _touched_ a dead outsider.

"Fear not, dear one. The woman cannot hurt you. Pick the child up."

I gently slid the baby out from his mother's arms. He was wailing, but as I looked beneath the blanket he was wrapped in, I could see no visible marks on his skin. He relaxed his tiny muscles the minute I cuddled him to my bosom and his cries dwindled to quiet whimpers.

I turned to the Great Deku Tree. "What do I do with a baby?"

"If he is hungry, feed juices him from the fruits of my branches. When he is sleepy, sing him to sleep with your song. When he is fussy, massage his neck and back until he calms."

"Can he have a fairy?" I queried.

The Great Deku Tree sighed and his leaves rustled with the noise. "This child is special. I feel it in the Forest's elements. I don't believe that he should have a fairy until the proper time comes."

This concerned me. "The other children will make fun of him. He won't be whole until he receives a fairy companion…."

"I know, child, I know. But a special child takes a special fairy, and it will take time for me to create a fairy to match his gifts and strengths. It took two and ten years for me to create a fairy for you, little one."

I sat down stunned. The baby in my arms was sucking on his fingers noisily and was starting to drift into sleep.

"Why did it take that long, Great Deku Tree?"

"Because it took that long to read your destiny and create you with the strengths you needed to fulfill that destiny."

Now I was more confused than ever. As soon as Kokiri children were created, a fairy was quickly matched to them to be their companions for eternity. A fairy and a child were created simultaneously, and the fairy was made to reflect the same power as the child had. Did it take that long to create me?

"When will you start on the baby's fairy?" I asked.

"I already have." The Great Deku Tree answered.

I nodded, but I was not fully satisfied, and began to walk out of the Great Deku Tree's meadow to bring him to my house. I remembered something.

"Does he have a name?"

"No," came the answer.

"May I name him?"

"You may, child."

I thought for a moment.

"He shall be called Link, because he came from the outside and now lives among the Kokiri. He is the link between our two worlds."

"It is good." The Deku Tree said.

I smiled, looked down at the baby, and walked to my house.


	3. Chapter 3

The other Kokiri children oohed and ahhed as I brought little Link through the forest to my home. The female Kokiri squealed and leaned into Link's face to coo and make baby talk. The male Kokiri rejoiced that they would soon have someone else to wrestle and box with. The other female Kokiri and I rolled our eyes and exchanged glances that said, 'Yes indeed. Boys will truly be boys.'

Goddesses, how time raced by.

I met his needs whenever it was called for, and soon he was no longer a baby but a toddler, then from a toddler into middle childhood. One day, we celebrated his ninth birthday. That was the first time I cried. I looked at him across piles of the Great Deku Tree's fruit and through dancing children and I saw how he had grown. All the Kokiri children had stayed the same including myself, but he had grown and would continue to grow.

There was something in my heart that had nagged me from the day I took him into my home. _If Link continues to grow, then one day, he will leave the forest. He was an outsider when he came in, and he is destined to explore the land of his birth. He will leave one day._ But I never told him he was not a Kokiri. That would not have been my place.

But this knowledge pierced me to the core of my heart. Link had rooted himself into me, and the mere thought of him leaving one day made me cry even on the sunniest spring day. I loved him, mostly because I had taken care of him so much as a young child, but increasingly more because…well…he looked as though the Goddesses had personally fashioned him. I was a girl, it was natural for me to notice such things as this. When we touched, my back grew hot. When we spoke, I often stumbled.

I know now that many people call this confusing group of emotions "first love pangs". I'll agree with that. Link was a handsome child to look at, and he had stolen my heart. Apparently he had also stolen most of the Kokiri females' hearts' as well, but he only returned affection (albeit the way most boys do when they "crush" on a girl) to me. He played with the other girls, but he liked me. I could see it in his eyes.

Link was such a quiet spirit. While he enjoyed rough-housing with his male friends, he tended to be on the shy side and blanched white as Maeve's fairy whenever he accidentally offended or injured someone. He never imposed on anyone, rarely asked for favors, but he had a courageous side that often unnerved us all. Once, a rabid Gohma wandered into our forest, and without a second thought, he ran straight up to it and began beating it with a large stick. The Great Deku Tree quickly sent power to kill the little beast, but not before Link had badly injured it. The girls swooned all over him after that. And I'll admit that I too fell a little harder for him. Mido, the self-titled leader of the Kokiri, couldn't stand the attention being given to Link, but there wasn't anything he could really do. Just make Link's life a little more miserable.

Link now had his own house, and when he wasn't playing with us, avoiding Mido, or talking with me, he often slept.

One morning, I climbed up the ladder to his tree home and peeked into his tiny room. There in the back of the house, Link lay on his bed, but he was thrashing. I put aside all manners and just ran in to try ease his agitation.

I put my hands on his shoulder and hip. I remember how dumbstruck I felt when I touched his sweat-soaked clothes. Link's delicate eyelids fluttered in his sleep, and I could see through the eyelids at his wildly roving eyes. _Something was wrong here_.

The forest was supposed to offer protection against nightmares, Kokiri or no. For Link to have what was obviously a nightmare meant that shield was either wavering or no longer present. _Something was very wrong here._

I decided to wake Link and try to break the dream. I shook him, gently at first and then not so gently. "Link, Link, wake up! Answer me!" He opened his eyes, and there were tears in them. "Whatever happened?" I asked urgently. Link shook his head, buried face into his pillow, and sobbed as though world were ending that very morning. _O Goddesses above, help me. Something's wrong and Link is receiving that wrongness through his dreams…_

I crawled into bed beside him and held him tightly. He laid his head on my chest, much like he did when he was still a tiny babe. How he shivered! Link continued to sob, but more quietly this time. "What can I do?" He asked me brokenly. "I don't know." I answered. I held his head to my neck and laid my cheek on his golden hair. _Why Link? Why, of all the children in this Forest, would something like this happen to him? Was it because he was an outsider? All he needed was friendship and shelter, did this wrongness begrudge him that?_

"Link, can you try to go back to sleep?" I whispered. "I'm going to talk to the Great Deku Tree and see what he thinks is happening." I felt him nod on my chest. I pulled the thick blanket over us and sang my special song until his eyes drooped shut again.

I made that song when Link first came into my home. Back then, I often pulled out my favorite musical instrument, a little wooden thing called an ocarina, and played until my fingers were sore from plugging up the various musical holes. Baby Link flapped his arms happily as I played a fast bolero, then gazed in wonder as I played a mournful serenade. But he sighed in real contentment as I played a song of my own making. It was a beautiful song that I had composed during my wanderings in the Lost Woods. The sounds of the forest lent themselves into my song, and I received my inspiration from them. The more I played it, the more…power…it seemed to have.

Link was finally in a deep sleep. I got up carefully, making sure not to stir him as best as I could. I tucked my side of the blanket underneath him so as to keep him warm. I stood back and gazed at my friend. There was such love in my heart for him, both in friendship and in something a little more. _There's that 'first love pang' again_. I admired his back that rose and fell with his breath. The sweet face that was cushioned in the pillow couldn't have been more beautiful.

There was nothing I wanted more than to get back into bed with him and kiss him on the lips with all my might. My heart beat painfully in my ribcage, and I forced my feet to turn and do as I had promised Link. I'm not sure if he would have appreciated some of my thoughts concerning he and I, but who knows. He might have been quite pleased and even encouraged the visions. _To a certain extent, I believe that he had already. _

With my firmly mission in mind, I ran to the Great Deku Tree's meadow. The Great Tree knew I was coming before I had set out from Link's house though, and He welcomed me warmly when I arrived, out of breath. I smiled and returned the welcome. The thoughts of Link had decorated my face in two bright pink spots on my cheeks. I held my hands up and felt the heat emanating from them. I know this did not escape the Great Tree's attention, though he didn't say anything at the time.

"My child, I see there is distress in your eyes. What has come to pass?"

"Link's been having nightmares." I needn't have said anymore.

The Great Deku Tree sighed a pained sigh and the whole of him shivered. "I know. Then it is almost time."

"Almost time for what?" I asked. I already knew the answer and I was afraid to hear it spoken aloud.

"It's almost time for him to set out from the Forest." I could only plop down in the soft grass in an overwhelmed state of grief.

"Great Deku Tree, forgive my selfishness please, but why must he leave?" I cried.

"Sweet Saria, Link has been destined from birth to purge the world, including this Forest of evil. That was what he was created for, and the Forest isn't the only place where evil is starting to grow. Thus, he must leave here to save other places from evil. It pains me also to see him prepare to go. I too have come to love him dearly, but not as much, I think, as you've come to love him. And not quite in the same fashion, am I correct?" He ended so gently, I couldn't help but look him in the eyes, smile and say, "You're right."

He smiled as well, making me blush harder than I ever have in my whole life. He saw right through me. His invisible gaze into my soul got uncomfortable, and I tried to change the subject.

"Is Link's fairy almost ready to be born?"

"Yes, she is."

"Do you know how much longer?"

"In a short amount of time. For Link to have nightmares this early means that his departure from the Forest will also come earlier than I expected. He will need his fairy companion soon. Would you like to see her?"

I grinned and nodded. I ran to the sacred bark of the Great Deku Tree and climbed up to his lower branches. He parted the leaves for me to see my way up. About midway through, I saw a glowing nest. I looked closer, and saw a tiny body and two pairs of wings that were dripping wet. _She had just been born!_ She was so new that she hadn't achieved her glow yet, and her head was cradled in her hands as she slept. I soaked in the scene and then reluctantly climbed back down, grateful for such a wonderful opportunity. I knew how much he had always wanted to be like me and the other Kokiri children in having a fairy of his own.

"She's beautiful!" I exclaimed when I came to stand in front of the Great Deku Tree once again.

"Isn't she?" He answered with a rare show of pride. "She shall be called _Navi_."

_Navi_. It was perfect.

"My greatest thanks for allowing me this moment, Great Deku Tree!" I said as reverently and joyfully as I felt.

"I take delight in the joy of my Children, dear one, and especially in you. But I have something to tell you."

I sat down again. _There was more?_

"Just as Link has a special destiny, so do you. In fact, your destiny is entwined with a part of his."

I breathed out hard as I took this in. "Will I leave the Forest as well?"

"No. Your physical body will not."

_My physical body will not? _"What do you mean, Great Deku Tree?"

"You are to become the Sage of the Forest Temple. Through your death in a time to come later, you will open the way further to aiding Link in purging evil from our world."

My eyes involuntarily filled with tears. _I was to…die?_ "What does it feel like to die?" I asked.

"It depends on the manner of your death."

"And…how…will I die?"

The Great Deku Tree was silent for a time.

"You will hurt. But you will hurt only for a short while. And then you will be greatly comforted after your death. You will sleep until the Hero of All Time comes to awaken you."

_The Hero of All Time? That sounded oddly familiar to me for some reason. Or maybe it was just my imagination…_

"Who is the Hero of All Time, Great Deku Tree?"

"He is the only one who can fully purge evil from our world. He will work in conjunction with Seven Sages, of which you are to be one, and he will also achieve victory alongside the Princess of Destiny."

My head was spinning. I felt the need to lie down and sleep for a good while. Then wake up and clear my head further with my ocarina music. This was too much to handle all at once.

"My precious child, I have overburdened you. I deeply apologize. Please, go in peace, and do not concern yourself with the future. You will grow the character traits it will take to handle your future and Link's, so do not worry."

As he spoke, a blanket of quiet settled on my mind, banishing my wild thoughts. I heard myself say good-bye to the Great Deku Tree, and then went back to the Kokiri Village.


	4. Chapter 4

After my discussion with the Great Deku Tree, I had gone to my house and laid down for a long nap. The subject matter and it's complexities had demanded a good nap. I had awoken several hours later with Link sitting on the edge of my bed and leaning over my face, watching me carefully.

"So, you got to go see the Great Deku Tree, didn't you? What did he say? Did he say when I was going to receive my fairy companion?" Link queried me curiously.

"Yes, I saw him. We talked about…things…" I ended lamely.

"Did he say anything about a fairy companion for me?" Link repeated.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, he did. She's almost ready to come for you!"

The smile on Link's face was priceless. A smile of relief, of heartfelt joy, of anticipation.

"The Great Deku Tree and I talked about you."

"What exactly did you talk about?" Link said suspiciously.

"O, I can't tell you _exactly_ what we said, but I told him…how much I like you." I couldn't believe how easily that had spilled out of my mouth. Link didn't look like he could believe it either. He blushed furiously and spun his head around to look at some pots in the corner.

I pulled out my ocarina to break the awkwardness. It had always been a tremendous comfort to my agitated mind when I listened to good music.

So I played my song.

Link turned to me and smiled. "That song has always been so lovely to me."

I nodded and kept playing. I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed beside him and tapped the bed frame with my heel to keep time.

I looked over at Link to see his eyes closed in obvious pleasure, swaying to the dips and hills of the song. I stared at him for too long and I missed a note. The reverie broke and we gazed at each other in a strange sort of shock.

As we looked at each other, I trembled as I fell into the depths of his velvety blue eyes. And as I fell, I received the sensation that he was falling into my own eyes. We had no desire to stop falling…we just silently agreed to suspend time and float in one another's consciousness…our lips started coming together …to seal our fates…

Link and I jumped violently as something banged on the wall outside. In one of my rare shows of anger, I marched outside and focused on the source of the rude interruption: Mido. Apparently he had seen Link and I have our intimate moment, and in his frustration had thrown a fair-sized rock against the wall of my house.

I know that I shrieked at him, but I don't remember what I said. I do remember the looks on the faces of the other children as they stared in surprised awe at the normally gentle Saria giving Mido quite the upbraiding. After the loudest tirade I'm sure I've ever given, I turned on my heel and marched back into the house with my head held high. Goddesses above, how insufferable Mido could be!

The anger surge had lit my body so that I was hot all over. My fists were tightly balled up against the sides of my thighs, and I could see red in my peripheral vision. I felt my mouth was tight and my eyes were narrow. This whole emotion was entirely new to me, and something wasn't right. Things hadn't been right since the beginning of Link's nightmares. It just seemed like the wrongness had reached me.

The look on Link's face as I walked back in brought shame on my head. Hurt was reflected in his eyes even though I had not screamed at him.

"Don't do that again, please Saria. That's not like you." Link whispered.

I sagged onto the bed. "You're right. I apologize." I answered quietly.

The episode really had been out of character.

I wanted to sink into the cracks in the wooden floor, I was so ashamed. Link continued to gaze at me with those piercing eyes, as though he were trying to see where the wrongness was coming from and if I was feeling it as strongly as he. I just stared at the floor. I couldn't meet those pure eyes. I felt dirty and childish for my outburst. And after such a beautiful moment with Link.

What I hadn't realized at the time was that whatever evil had been affecting Link in his nightmares was changing me at the same time. This character change also brought about a new awareness of powers that none of the other Kokiri children could pick up. I'm not sure if Link also had the same new awareness, but something tells me he did. I don't know because I never got the opportunity to ask him…

Some months later, I was dipping my feet in the little stream that ran through our village when blackness overtook my vision and I suddenly became very lethargic. I bowed my head onto my chest to try to clear my vision, but to no avail. I shook my head to shake the blackness, but it did not help.

And then as quickly as it came upon me, it quickly left. The forest was reilluminated and everything looked as it was before. But there was a feeling in my heart that evil had finally settled into my beloved Forest and that nothing would ever be the same again.

I looked over to the entrance of the Great Deku Tree's meadow, and a blue fairy flitted out.

_Navi._

_The day has come. _

I followed Navi as fast as my feet could carry me. She disappeared into Link's house, and I waited at the bottom of the ladder to see my friend's reaction. It was not long before he appeared, a combination of triumph and delight on his face, with the blue fairy hovering over his shoulder.

I jumped up and down and clapped my hands in delight. The other female Kokiri joined in with me.

_Link has his fairy companion! At last!_

_Now the courses of our destinies can begin spinning…_

When Link had climbed down the ladder he immediately began a steady stream of small phrases: "I have a fairy…the Great Deku Tree wants to see me…where do I find a sword?...what's a shield?...am I dressed well enough to go see the Great Deku Tree?...what's Hyrule?...I need something to eat…is Mido guarding the entrance to the Great Deku Tree's meadow again?...where do I put this rock?..." on and on he rambled.

I quieted him and blew out a breath. Navi had apparently filled him in on too much for his mind to take in. I placed my hands on my hips and put on a look of mild irritation at Navi as a simple show. She shrugged apologetically and said, "What was I to do? Does the fate of Hyrule really depend on a boy that talks this much?" It was my turn to shrug and I looked at Link whose eyes were dashing around to take in the sights of a Forest that he had grown up in.

"We're off to see the Great Deku Tree! I'll see you later, Saria!"

"Good-bye…" I said quietly. I glanced up at my own fairy, Deidre, and sighed. Link would leave the Forest soon after this. I knew it. Evil had entered the Forest, and Link needed to leave to protect us. The rememberance of the knowledge hurt the same way it had when it was first revealed to me. _Could I let go of all I loved, Link, my friends, and my own life for the sake of people I had never seen before, for generations that I would never even think of?_


	5. Chapter 5

I went into my house and sat on the edge of the bed. The foreboding of Evil curling about in the Forest weighed heavily on my heart. The lethargic sensation began to set in again. I laid down on the bed, afraid of going to sleep and somehow afraid of staying awake.

The pressure of the Evilness grew in small amounts at first, and then began growing in larger and larger increments. I felt as though the Evil Presence was actually pressing me down into the mattress, constricting my ribcage and forcing my eyes closed. Outside, normally the sound of birds and sweet music would fill my ears. There was none of that now.

I continued to lay down; what else could I do? The pressure had grown to the point that my head ached horribly. Now there was another new sensation. That of physical pain. Even in my beleaguered state I wondered at the pain.

All of the sudden, the darkness lifted, and this time it was truly gone. I had a sudden sense that I needed to get to the bridge that linked the Kokiri Forest and the outside as soon as possible. _Strange…I wasn't aware there was even a bridge there._

I obeyed my senses. I got up and ran for the door, and then I had an afterthought that I might like to bring along my little ocarina in case I had to chase away boredom in waiting for someone. I had another sense that this someone was Link. _Right again_.

I slipped past the Kokiri male child that was on duty to guard the entrance to the outside and waited there between the ropes of that rickety bridge.

I waited for some time. But instead of bringing out my ocarina, I just listened to a lone owl talk to whatever it was he was talking to. _Hoo, hoo, hoot…_It sounded like he was lonely to me. A few crows were joining in on his chorus. I looked at my surroundings to see fireflies floating gently about, a dead tree in the middle of a clearing, and a thick forest surrounding the bridge that I couldn't see through if I tried.

_Why was that tree dead?_ _The trees in the Kokiri Forest never die. _

I didn't finish my train of thought, because Link burst out of the Kokiri Forest and plowed his way across the bridge.

"You're leaving?" I asked with a sob in my throat.

"I have to." He softly answered.

"The Great Deku Tree is dead."

I wept as my heart bled. Link was leaving and the Great Deku Tree was dead.

"Whatever I happened?" I cried.

"There was a…parasite…that ate Him from the inside. I saved him, but He didn't live long after that. He gave me this jewel though." Link held a beautiful Emerald beryl for me to see. I stroked it with my fingertips, stunned at it's beauty and the fact that it virtually symbolized the death of the Guardian of the Forest. _A Emerald paid for in blood_.

"Where will you go from here?" I had to know.

"Before the Great Deku Tree died, he said I had to visit the Princess of Destiny in the Hyrule Castle to see what needs to be done to rid our Forest of evil."

"Saria, I was made to leave the Forest to save Hyrule! The Great Deku Tree said that I was very courageous and that I should never fear, because my battles will never be fought in vain!" Link reached to his back and took out a sword from a sheath. "He let me find this, and he had me carve this shield from his own bark. The Great Deku Tree said that it would protect me from many things that I would encounter in battle." Link put his new gear away and waited for my reaction.

I came close and took his hands into mine. "I know you were always destined to leave the Forest. But will you promise to come back to seem me?"

"Of course I will."

"Keep this then, until we live in the same Forest once again." I pulled out my precious ocarina and placed it in his trembling hands.

"_Saria…_your ocarina…"

"It's a memento." I answered, feeling new tears prickle the corners of my eyes.

"Thank you, Saria."

"We'll always be friends forever, won't we Link?" I met his eyes.

He didn't answer, but stepped carefully towards me. Before I could register what was happening, he had taken my face into his hands and pressed his lips into mine. I stiffened at first, and then relaxed as the loved and wanted feelings washed through my rubbery legs. It was a simple kiss, but the meaning behind it made me want so much more. I returned the kiss wholeheartedly.

He broke our embrace suddenly and we stared at each other from an arm's length. There were no words to say. Link turned and ran to the outside without looking back once.

I watched after him for hours after he had gone. There was a hole in my heart that I knew would never be filled again. But it would be alright, because that piece of my heart was being carried in the ocarina, and whenever Link played any kind of music on it, my heart would rejoice. His mouth would also touch the place where my mouth had. So, in essence, we would kiss every time he played the instrument. Intimacies unknown were opened to us. More than we had ever had while we lived in the same Forest.

_Good-bye Link. I'll miss you. I'll watch for your return. Pay attention to Navi when she says to come back to me…_


	6. Chapter 6

Link did come back. It felt like decades and decades later, but it was really only a few weeks. He came back, but he didn't stay.

The morning he came back to the Forest, I felt someone call my name from the Lost Woods. I felt deeply compelled to follow the sound, but I hesitated at the entrance to the Lost Woods. Many people, including Kokiri children, wandered into the Lost Woods and very few had ever come back. I had no desire to be lost forever, no matter how much I loved my Forest.

But the voice led me through the tunnels and the trees that formed arches over my path. I walked deliberately, placing one foot in front of the other, absorbing the sound of a tambourine that emanated through the Lost Woods and that seemed to have no source and no harmony that it had been set to.

I paused my progress to think up a tune to make the Lost Wood's tambourine complete. But it was already in my head. _My song_. Of course.

I pulled out the new ocarina I had carved from the bark of the Great Deku Tree after His death, and played my song. _Almost on beat. A little faster. There. It's perfect. _I played my song until I wanted to stop, and then I leaned my head back to listen to the sounds of the Forest. To my utter surprise, I heard my song being played back to me in time with the tambourine. It was being played over and over and over, seemingly never to stop again. I had unwittingly set into motion a song that would echo forever until the earth burned into oblivion.

I continued my journey.

I knew now where I was headed. The Sacred Forest Meadow. A place of solitude and beauty unfathomable. It was so tangibly beautiful that few mortals had ever touched its' grass. It was one of the few places on earth that the goddesses had walked upon when they created the world that had not been sullied by the feet of mortals. _And Little Saria was to walk upon this very bit of earth!_ I felt so small and insignificant.

I arrived at my destination. It was just as I had imagined it. I had imagined the strong sensation that the Forest spirits frolicked, lived, loved, slept, and mourned in this very place, and here I was. Little Saria, with her role to play in the breaking of Evil's hold on her Forest.

My song continued to echo and keep up with the tambourine in this Meadow. But I stared an oddly shaped building that jutted out from one part of the Meadow. A broken staircase that one could not climb led to the entrance of the building, and a dead tree's branch hung over the entrance. _Odd. Another dead tree._ A tree stump lay directly across from the dead tree.

I walked over to the stump and made myself comfortable on it. As I did, I noticed that my song which echoed through the trees stopped, and all that was left was the tambourine.

I noticed that in the middle of the Meadow's floor was a large pad of stone that looked as though it could be illuminated from the inside. I wondered who could have put it there, why, and what significance it had. I looked back at the entrance to the building. _Why did everything that even remotely touched my life have some 'greater meaning'?_

The absence of music mildly disturbed me, so I pulled out my ocarina and picked up my song again. The tambourine sounded complete to me once more. I sat there for hours and played my ocarina and just felt the presence of the spirits observing this girl of the Forest make music.

Link came back to me about that time.

Instead of running up to greet me as he normally would., he stopped and gaped at his surroundings, walking reverently through the blessed grass. Then he saw me and his joy lit his eyes.

I continued to play, but I smiled over the mouthpiece and beckoned him to come closer. This he did, and I forged ahead and taught him my song. I don't know for sure why I did it at the time, but I just did. I never taught anyone my song; no one knew how to play it save myself and he.

The sound of two ocarinas playing made tears come to my eyes. Link smiled a sweet smile over his ocarina. _My ocarina as well. _

We put our instruments down.

"So, my friend. What did the Princess of Destiny say to you?" I asked.

"She said very much. Are you ready for a long story?" he said.

I nodded and he began.

"The Princess of Destiny's name is Zelda." He said. _There goes the familiar sensation again. _Where_ had I heard that name before? It was not a Kokiri name…_

"She saw Navi and said that she had a dream about me with the Kokiri Emerald. She said that the Emerald is one of five keys to opening the Sacred Realm. Zelda went on to explain that after the Goddesses created the earth, they left at the same time, and the place where the left is where the Sacred Realm stands. Apparently this Realm also holds a more powerful symbol of their departure and power and this symbol would be the Triforce. That's where I got kind of lost. She talked about things that she's heard all her life, but that was the first time I've ever heard that kind of thing."

I put my hand on his shoulder. The Great Deku Tree often told this same story that Zelda had told Link. I don't remember why Link hadn't heard the story before. He must have been taking naps while they were being told.

"I've seen the Incarnation of Evil, Saria."

I focused intently on him. "Go on, please."

"The Incarnation of Evil is in the form of that man in black armor that I used to see in my dreams. His name is Ganondorf, and he is visiting the same castle where Zelda lives. She said that he is trying to become an ally of her father's, but Ganondorf's intents are anything but peaceful. Zelda says he wants the Triforce for himself."

"And you and Zelda need to protect it." I finished for him.

He nodded appreciatively.

"You need to protect the Triforce from Ganondorf so that he will not take over Hyrule. What does my newly appointed knight in shining green armor think he shall do to prevent this?"

Link blushed and muttered something about knights being for grown-ups.

"No, no! You must be a knight now in order for Zelda to send you on this mission, aren't you?" I teased. Link blushed a bit harder.

I jumped up, intoxicated with my game, and stood a ways from him. "_Well_, you over there, handsome knight!" I said dramatically.

Link groaned and tried to sink into the tree stump. I annoyed a Deku Scrub with my loud voice and theatrics. It began spitting nasty seeds at me. "O no! This terrifying Scrub is pelting my back, and soon I shall have bruises all over my body! O…O…who shall save me?...who shall help me in my time of great danger...help me O handsome knight…help me!"

Link apparently had decided to play along. "I'll save you, fair maiden of the Forest! With this sacred blade, I will cut your enemy down in front of you and we shall live happily ever after!"

Link dashed over to the offending Deku Scrub and several seeds _thunked_ onto him, but he managed to dispatch the Scrub quickly.

"Now fair maiden," he called, continuing our game. "I would ask for my kiss that the fair lady traditionally gives the knight who has risked his life for her…" He finished in such a sly tone of voice that I couldn't help grinning and ducking my head.

Link was not to be deterred. "My kiss, fair lady?" I looked to see his face very close to mine.

"Great knight, you have fought well! Receive thy kiss and treasure it for all your life!"

I leaned toward him and felt our lips meet. His lips were silky soft and warm. I put my arms around his torso and he placed his arms around my neck. I never wanted it to end, but the Forest spirits made such a commotion over a pair of children kissing in such a fervent manner. We had to stop to get some peace and quiet, but we still stood in one another's embrace.

Link spoke softly. "Zelda said that the Kokiri Emerald was the first key, and then the Goron's Ruby, the Zora's Sapphire, the Ocarina of Time which Zelda holds, and the Master Sword of Time."

I nodded. I had heard of all these things before. "You might want to go to the tallest, fiery mountain in Hyrule where the Goron's live and see if their king, Darunia will loan you their stone. I don't know where you would go from there, but I think that will get you started in the right direction."

"That sounds about right. Zelda said that's where it could be. Makes sense, doesn't it?" I nodded again. We broke our embrace.

"I have to go, Saria."

"I know you do."

"Thank you for teaching me your song."

"Your welcome. Please be safe in your travels. You are important to Princess Zelda, Link, but I know that you are also very important to me, Link."

He kissed me again, ignoring the spirit's commotion rising once more.

"I have a feeling that this Meadow will figure prominently in our destinies later in life, Link." I said after our kiss broke.

"That's what I felt, too."

He started to back away. "Good-bye Saria."

"Good-bye Link."

_I love you, Link._

_I love you too, Saria._


	7. Chapter 7

We were just children then. But I believe that we had stronger emotions at that time that some adults have.

I didn't see him again for many years.

I hurt every day that I did not see him. But I hope that I did not hurt out of my selfishness, rather, that I hurt to see him just to tell him that someone loved him.

Instead I had to settle for communicating through my song when he played it on the ocarina. All I offered was encouragement and the occasional bit of advice, but other than that, our conversations were rare and very brief if they happened at all.

Then one day, the communication just stopped.

I knew something terrible had happened to Hyrule Castle. My fairy, Deidre had told me through Navi that Zelda had fled with her attendant with Gannondorf close on their heels. How I had hoped that Link hadn't been caught between them. All I wanted was for Link to be safe, even if I never spoke to him again.

One day, as I strolled through the Kokiri village simply breathing the night air, I noted a metallic tang on my tongue from the air. An increasing amount of monsters had infested the village since the Great Deku Tree's death and Link's departure. The number of children that took to their houses and did not come out rose significantly.

But these monsters did not touch me. More than once, I had cut down a monster with a blade that I had found in the Lost Woods. There wasn't anything more I could do though. The monsters kept coming back.

On that day, I heard the Forest spirits calling my name again, but their cries were distressed and frightened. I strapped my sword to my hip and headed for the Sacred Meadow. I was shocked at the many monsters I had to cut through on my way there. A normal Deku Scrub did little if any harm, but these Scrubs' seeds could do some real damage. I had to run away from a wolf that screamed a battle cry that shook me to my marrow.

When I arrived at the Sacred Meadow, the cries of the Forest spirits grew more distraught. _Saria, Saria! Bring the Hero of All Time, and save us! Call the Hero of All Time…_

I looked at the source of their cries. The mouth of the building that I had always wondered at. _The Forest Temple_.

Determined, I climbed the dead tree and swung myself over to the top of the broken stairs, walked to the entrance and was consumed by blackness.

There were more monsters in here. They seemed to be much stronger than usual. I unsheathed my blade, aware that the presence of Evil was stronger than I had ever felt in my life before. I must be prepared…

I was startled out of my wits as a great man in black armor materialized out of nowhere and began floating around my head. A long scepter with the crown in the shape of a trident was in his hand. His helmet was solid black, and red eyes peered out at me with malevolence.

He was the Spirit of Ganondorf. That evil man that had infected Link's dreams was sending his Spirit to destroy me.

I pointed my blade at his head, and I was temporarily pleased to see that there was no trembling in my arm. I might have been afraid of death, but I certainly wasn't going to go down without a hefty fight on my part.

_I lost._

_I lost the hearing in my ears._

_I lost the sight in my eyes._

_I lost the feeling in my whole body._

_I lost scents of the Forest from my lungs._

_I lost my blade. _

_I lost my physical strength. _

_I lost…_everything.

But I gained something through all that I lost. _I was no longer afraid. _ I would never be frightened again. I was taken into the very innards of the Forest Temple and I became a spirit among the spirits that had called my name to the Sacred Meadow and the Temple.

The ghost of Ganondorf evaporated as I watched. I had not defeated him, but someone was coming who would. _The Hero of All Time._

My eyes which were no longer physical watched for this great man. I waited for eons and eons, but it was only a matter of days later.

_Here he comes._

_Here comes the Hero of All Time._

_And it is…_none other than my old friend Link.

_Who would've guessed it?_

My heart cried out with joy. He was here! My friend Link was the Hero of All Time! I wept with euphoria indescribable.

I noted how handsome he had grown. He was always a beautiful child, but now his demeanor was quite manly. Link's legs had grown quite long, I couldn't help but noticing. He must have been about ten and seven years old. Ah, he already looked the role of the Hero of Time.

It was not long that Link came to confront the Spirit of Ganondorf. I held my breath as I watched Link swing that gorgeous sword to throw aside whatever black magic projectiles the Spirit threw his way. _It had to be the Master Sword._ No other blade had the power that it utilized.

As I watched, the Spirit made a fatal mistake. He had fallen and left himself wide open to attack. Link stabbed through his evil helmet without hesitation, and our trial, mine and Link's, was over.

The Forest was safe again. Evil had been purged from this part of Hyrule. I was released and I was made the Sage of the Forest. Me! A little Kokiri girl who's favorite game was mud fights! It seems to me that destiny doesn't often pick the greatest, the best, and the strongest, but rather the most lowly and downtrodden to raise the world up out of it's shadows.

_Saria, Saria! Come forth! Come forth as the Sage of the Forest!_

I met Link's eyes in the room that he had defeated the Spirit in. Recognition glowed in his eyes, and he knelt in reverence.

"Please, my friend! Rise. I would not be the Sage of the Forest had it not been for your courage and your blade!"

He rose. "Saria, it has been so long…I've missed you so."

"Goddesses know I've missed you! But you don't have to explain where you have been. I know that if you had been given the option of coming to see me, you would have."

"Yes…" He blushed. It was so much like when he was a child. Link continued to have an abashed aura around me. I knew what he was thinking.

"Do you remember our kisses? How the spirits made fun of us?"

"How could I forget?" Link answered, with a wry smile on his face. Goddesses! I may be a Sage of the Forest, but his smile will forever melt my heart!

"Saria, however much I desire to, I cannot tarry long. This Forest Temple is only the first of five temples I must go to so that I can gather the power of the Sages to defeat Ganondorf once and for all."

"I know. He laid hold of the Triforce?" Link nodded.

"Did the Triforce split?" Again, Link nodded.

"I would imagine that he now holds the Triforce of Power, but that is just my guess. He seems to value Power above all."

"Please, don't allow me to keep you any longer. Take this…as a sign of our friendship and the love that we shared." I said.

"That we _still_ share." He corrected.

"Yes," I breathed. "That we will _always _share."

I slipped my Medallion into his warm hands, reveling in their feel.

"Link, may the Goddesses bless you on your journey. We will meet again. I promise."

"Thank you." He answered.

It was in this way that we parted company. We will only meet one more time. And that will be the end.

But before Link left the Forest, I arranged for him to meet the little Sprout that was growing to fulfill his duties as the new Great Deku Tree. I can only imagine what transpired during their conversation.

_I hear his voice in my head as he leave the Forest for the final time. He has played an ocarina, but it is not mine. It is the Ocarina of Time that opens the portal between us. He speaks…_

…_I love you, Saria._

…_I love you too, Link._


End file.
